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FRIDAY

JP Morgan Chase Main Stage

7 p.m. Ron Carter Nonet: The 2016 artist-in-residence opens the festival with a unique and suave ensemble that puts the leader out front on the piccolo bass, with a traditional rhythm section, percussionist and four cellos behind him. There’s a structured equilibrium to the music, amplified by Carter’s varied material and natty arrangements that use the strings as an opportunity for melodic counterpoint and rich harmonic dressings.

8:15 Preview Performance: The Soul Rebels: A New Orleans band that updates the classic Crescent City brass band sound.

9 George Benson: At 73, Benson remains a master guitarist whose fleet-fingered clarity and bluesy elocutions have been widely imitated since his organ-band salad days in the 1960s. But, of course, Benson the singer-guitarist has also been a crossover star since the 1970s, plying an easy-to-digest blend of R&B, soul, pop and jazz. His festival concerts tend to reference it all, including the hits like “This Masquerade.” I’d also expect a nod to his recent Nat King Cole-themed CD.

SATURDAY

Carhartt Amphitheater Stage

1:30 p.m. John Douglas Quartet: A potent veteran trumpeter on the Detroit scene gets an overdue showcase with his quartet.

3:15 Randy Weston’s African Rhythms & the Wayne State University Big Band: At 90, the pianist and composer is a griot — a storyteller of such experience, depth, individuality and integrity that he seems to embody the entire history of African-American music and culture. His playing remains a tower of strength, and he teams here with colleague T.K. Blue on alto sax and flute and the Wayne State band to perform classics like Weston’s “Hi-Fly” and “Little Niles” in arrangements originally written by the late Melba Liston.

5:15 Luciana Souza: “Speaking in Tongues”: The mercurial Brazilian jazz vocalist’s 2015 CD “Speaking in Tongues” was a terrific showcase for her wordless, scat-like vocals in the context of the same dynamic and eclectic band of virtuosos that joins her here: Lionel Loueke on guitar, Grégoire Maret on harmonica, Massimo Biolcati on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums.

9:15 Roy Hargrove and Detroit Jazz Festival String Orchestra: The trumpeter, best known for his fiery improvising and spark-plug personality, gets in touch with the romantic side. His quintet teams with a string orchestra and plies material dating back to a 2000 recording, “Moment to Moment,” with arrangements by Gil Goldstein, Larry Willis and others.

JP Morgan Chase Main Stage

11:30 a.m. Northville High School, Fraser High School, Detroit School of Arts

2 p.m. Robert Hurst: Celebrating David Baker and Jazz Education: David Baker, who died last spring at 84, belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of jazz education. Hurst, a Detroit-bassist who studied with Baker at Indiana University in the early '80s before launching his major league career, has organized this tribute featuring a gaggle of leading Baker protégés, among them keyboardist Jim Beard, saxophonist Ralph Bowen, drummer Sean Pelton and others.

4 Lisa Fischer & Grand Baton: Though she had a Grammy Award-winning R&B hit in 1992 with ''How Can I Ease the Pain?,” Fischer has spent most of her career as a backup singer to the stars, from the Rolling Stones to Luther Vandross. Here Fischer, whose powerhouse voice remains a marvel, moves from the back line to the frontline.

6 The Soul Rebels: A high-spirited New Orleans group that updates the classic Crescent City brass band sound through a mélange of styles that smacks of the 21st Century.

8 Papo Vazquez Mighty Pirates Troubadours: A Latin jazz ensemble from New York. (Note: This is a late-hour replacement for pianist Omar Sosa, who was forced to cancel because of health reasons.)

Absopure Water Front Stage

2:15 Ron Brooks remembers Kenn Cox & the Contemporary Jazz Quintet: Brooks, the original bassist in Detroit's revered post-bop ensemble of the late '60s and '70s, the Contemporary Jazz Quintet, remembers his bandmates by leading a quintet including trumpeter Rayse Biggs, pianist Gary Schunk and others.

The late Kenn Cox, shown here at the 2002 Detroit Jazz Festival, will be honored with tribute sets on Saturday afternoon on the Water Front Stage.(Photo: Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press)

2:45 Kenn Cox Reunion Celebration: Cox, who died in 2008 at age 68, was a major league composer-pianist and a driving force behind the Contemporary Jazz Quintet. The band made two LPs for Blue Note in 1968-69 that are now regarded as classics. For part two of the festival's tribute, an expansive group of up to 12 players performs rarely heard Cox compositions and arrangements that New York trumpeter and archivist David Weiss dug up among the late pianist's files and prepared for performance. Ralph (Buzzy) Jones is the musical director for the set, and the ensemble includes the great Detroit-bred trombonist George Bohannon, saxophonists Marcus Elliot and Alex Harding and bassist Marion Hayden.

4:45 Alfredo Rodriquez Trio: The animated young Cuban-born pianist continued on an upward trajectory with his third Mack Avenue release, “Tocororo,” earlier this year. His trio includes Peter Slavov and drummer Henry Cole.

3:30 Yokohama Jazz Promenade presents Hakuei Kim’s Trisonique: Kim, a pianist, leads this high-octane trio, well known in its native Japan. Tomokazu Sugimoto will be on bass and Hidenobu (Kalta) Otsuki on drums.

5:30 Stanley Cowell Quintet featuring Billy Harper and Charles Tolliver: The potential for intense magic is high as Cowell, an authoritative and criminally underrated pianist, reunites with two firebrand post-bop partners from the late ‘60s and ‘70s, trumpeter Tolliver and tenor saxophonist Harper. Bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Carl Allen complete the group. It’s a homecoming of sorts, because Cowell did some playing on the Detroit scene while a graduate student in Ann Arbor in the mid ‘60s. Moreover, Cowell and Tolliver cofounded the Strata-East label in 1971, taking inspiration from Detroit’s Strata label created by Kenn Cox and Charles Moore.

7:30 Ron Carter Quartet: The second appearance by the festival’s artist-in-residence finds the bassist fronting an invigorating quartet with pianist Renee Rosnes, a creative pianist who elevates any band in which she appears, as well as drummer Payton Crossley and percussionist Rolando Morales-Matos.

SUNDAY

Carhartt Amphitheater

1:30 Daniel Meinecke Big Band: A promising young Detroit pianist, composer and arranger introduces his big band to a wider festival audience.

3:15 The Homecoming Band: Kirk Lightsey & Louis Hayes Trio with Robert Hurst: Born in Detroit just a few months apart in 1937, Lightsey and Hayes took different paths into the history books. Hayes, a defining drummer of the hard bop era, got there first by driving the bands of Horace Silver and Cannonball Adderley in the '50s and ‘60s. Lightsey, whose marriage of grace and guts marks him as prototypical Detroit pianist, saw his reputation rise in the 1970s and '80s after important work with Dexter Gordon and others. Detroit-bred bassist Robert Hurst completes what should be a swinging homecoming.

Festival artist-in-residence Ron Carter (bass) leads his trio with guitarist Russell Malone at 5:15 p.m.Sunday at the Amphitheater Stage. The band is show performing at 2015 Detroit Jazz Festival,(Photo: Len Katz)

7:15 Marcus Roberts and the Modern Jazz Generation: A 12-piece band under the leadership of a pianist who first came to fame in the 1980s with Wynton Marsalis and who possesses an encyclopedic command of this history of jazz piano. The ensemble includes, among others, bassist Rodney Jordan, drummer Jason Marsalis, trumpeters Etienne Charles and Alphonso Horne, tenor saxophonist Stephen Riley and trombonist Corey Wilcox.

9:15 Freddy Cole with the Detroit Jazz Festival String Orchestra: The Cole Family Legacy — Remembering Nat and Natalie: At 84, Cole has lost some of the silkiness of his prime, but he still swings easy and knows how to put over a ballad with affecting emotion. For this tribute to his famous brother Nat King Cole and niece Natalie Cole, Freddy’s core quartet is supplemented by an orchestra drawn mostly from the ranks of the Detroit Symphony. Pianist John diMartino is the arranger, with Gil Goldstein conducting.

JP Morgan Chase Main Stage

11:30 a.m. Northview High School, Eisenhower High School, Meridian High School

2 p.m. USAF Airmen of Note: The U.S. Air Force big band remains one of the top jazz ensembles in the stable of American military bands.

4 Cyrille Aimee: A young French-born singer with a feathery voice, Aimee revels in a spirited eclecticism encompassing material ranging from bebop tunes and standards to contemporary songs and rhythms from around the world.

6 RH Factor: In his second festival set of the weekend, trumpeter Roy Hargrove returns to the funky neo-soul, R&B and hip-hop hybrids he explored in the early 2000s, keeping his own fiery improvisations front-and-center.

8 Vanguard Jazz Orchestra: The Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra made its debut Feb. 7, 1966, at New York’s Village Vanguard. Fifty years — and 2,500 Mondays — later, the band lives on as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. The Pontiac-born cofounder Thad Jones was an innovative composer-arranger and trumpeter. His classic scores — full of endless melodies, harmonic surprise, rhythmic wit and the warm vibrations and spark of genius — will be at the core of this long-overdue Detroit festival appearance.

Absopure Waterfront Stage

12:45 The University of Michigan Big Band with Kendrick Scott: Conducted by Ellen Rowe, the U-M band performs three movements of pianist-composer Stephen Rush's Jazz Piano Concerto. Scott, an A-list drummer on the national scene, appears as a guest on three pieces.

3 Michael Malis Trio: One of the most rewarding young musicians on the Detroit scene, Malis, a pianist and composer fluent in a variety of idioms, leads a trio of his peers with Ben Rolston on bass and Stephen Boegehold on drums. The music has a forward-looking edge: loose and spontaneous, alert to dynamics and texture and balancing ruminative lyricism and splashy intensity.

David Weiss and Point of Departure performs at 4:45 p.m. Sunday at the Water Front Stage,(Photo: Detroit Jazz Festival)

4:45 David Weiss & Point of Departure Celebrate the Music of Kenn Cox and Charles Moore: A trumpeter and bandleader with a knack for organizing powerful bands, digs deep into the music by Cox and Moore, two late Detroiters who were part of the city’s exploratory Contemporary Jazz Quintet in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. The CJQ reflected the weightless, modal universe and shifting rhythms associated with the Miles Davis Quintet. Weiss’ sextet contains another link to Detroit in Motor City native JD Allen on tenor sax. A pair of guitarists, Ben Eunson and Travis Reuter, along with bassist Matt Clohesy and drummer Kush Abadey complete the group.

6:45 Gregoire Maret & Inner Voices with special guest Jean Baylor: A Swiss-born harmonica virtuoso, Maret’s credits range from Herbie Hancock to Pat Metheny, George Benson and Sting. His band, anchored by powerhouse drummer Marcus Baylor with vocalist Jean Baylor along for the ride, can and will go in a lot of directions.

Wayne State University Pyramid Stage

2 2016 DJF Ron Carter National Jazz Bass Competition Winner: Cole Davis, a young bassist from New York, leads his own group.

3:45 PubliQuartet: An adventurous New York string quartet, the PubliQuartet works across classical and jazz idioms, playing contemporary composed works, pieces with improvisation and mash-ups that, for example, combine music by Charlie Parker and Claude Debussy or Thelonious Monk and Igor Stravinsky. Homecoming note: Violinist Jannina Norpoth is the daughter of noted Detroit jazz guitarist-composer Spencer Barefield.

5:30 Charenee Wade: A first-rate and versatile singer, Wade's 2011 debut recording was a traditional program of standards, while last year's "Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson" moved into the socially conscious material of Scott-Heron and a broader palette of rhythms of textures. Wade's band includes alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, pianist Oscar Perez, bassist Lonnie Plaxico and drummer Darrell Green.

Jason Moran (center) and the Bandwagon perform at 4:15 Monday on the Water Front Stage.(Photo: Detroit Jazz Festival)

MONDAY

Carhartt Amphitheater Stage

1:15 p.m. Harold Lopez-Nussa Trio: A high-energy Cuban-born pianist presents an animated version of Latin jazz, leading a trio with his brother Ruy Lopez-Nussa on drums and percussion and Alune Wade on bass.

5:15 Ron Carter Big Band: The artist-in-residence closes out the 2016 festival at the helm of his New York big band. The band is stocked with seasoned pros, among them the great lead alto saxophonist Jerry Dodgion (who turned 84 this week), alto saxophonist Antonio Hart, trombonist Steve Davis, trumpeter Greg Gisbert, drummer Dennis Mackrel and a gaggle of others. The straightforward arrangements by Bob Freedman offer a nice balance of tailored ensembles and elbow room for soloists, and it should be fun to hear how Carter, who has been mostly associated with small groups, can guide 16 players to the goal line.

JP Morgan Chase Main Stage

12:15 p.m. East Meets West: A Global Jam: A multicultural meeting between players of Japan's Trisonique and a multigenerational batch of Detroiters, including Rob Pipho, Rayse Biggs, Marcus Elliott and Spencer Barefield.

1:45 Roberta Gambarini & Jimmy Heath: An irresistible pairing of an alluring Italian vocalist (Gambarini) with an ageless saxophonist and composer (Heath), who at 90 remains a national treasure and a direct link to the halcyon days of bebop in the late 1940s and such associates as Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. With pianist Jeb Patton and drummer Willie Jones.

3:45 Scofield Mehldau Guiliana: A starry power trio that brings together guitarist John Scofield, keyboardist Brad Mehldau and drummer Mark Guiliana promises to cover the waterfront of contemporary fusion styles, from funk to electronica, with serious improvisational chops keeping jazz at the core of it all. Scofield doubles a bit on electric bass, too.

12:45 Motown Legends Gospel Choir: A 12-member choir, with rhythm section accompaniment, that draws on the city's soulful history as it feels the spirit.

2:15 DJF's Rising Stars Alumni Band: A showcase for emerging talent with roots in the educational programming of the festival.

4:15 Jason Moran and the Bandwagon: Moran, a restlessly creative pianist, composer and conceptualist, has been leading this first-rate trio with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits for more than 15 years. Moran filters the tenor and rhythm of contemporary life into a sweeping aesthetic that hears the jazz tradition as a century-long march of avant-garde ideas and attitudes.

2:45 Charlie Gabriel Quintet: Though he spent more than 60 years as a versatile clarinetist and saxophonist on the Detroit scene, the 84-year-old Gabriel was born in New Orleans and in recent years has been an indefatigable member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in the Crescent City. For this Motor City reunion, he'll lead a band that promises to push him beyond the early jazz of New Orleans and into more modern fare.

4:45 Dave McMurray Trio/Detroit 3: McMurray, a muscular and well-traveled Detroit tenor saxophonist, can play in all kinds of styles, from funk to free, and he's the kind of committed player who commands attention.